With Cincinnati finishing Fantasy Football Championship weekend by defeating Denver, the NFL continued its frantic, unpredictable run to the real postseason Monday night. The Bengals’ upset caught all of us off guard, ending a week of less-than-stellar prognosticating.
Anthony Maggio proved he can do more than pick fantasy lineups by navigating the upset-laden week to an 11-5 mark. He paced us. Tony, John and permanent guest picker Dr. Phil each hit 10. I botched pretty much every questionable game, dropping to 8-8.
Here are the standings for the week and the season as we head to week 17:
Name | Week | Season |
Dr. Phil | 10-6 | 166-73-1 |
John Vomhof Jr | 10-6 | 161-78-1 |
Tony | 10-6 | 159-80-1 |
Andy | 8-8 | 153-86-1 |
Maggio | 11-5 | 145-94-1 |
The regular season wraps up this week. While it looks like our leaders have enough of a cushion to ensure they stay on top, we’re going to also continue to see at week’s end how we fare against some of the “NFL experts.” Here are our picks for the season’s last week:
Andy | Tony | John | Maggio | |
Sunday, December 28 | ||||
Buffalo at New England | New England | New England | New England | New England |
Cleveland at Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore |
Carolina at Atlanta | Carolina | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta |
Chicago at Minnesota | Chicago | Minnesota | Minnesota | Minnesota |
Dallas at Washington | Dallas | Dallas | Dallas | Dallas |
Detroit at Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay |
Jacksonville at Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston |
Indianapolis at Tennessee | Indianapolis | Indianapolis | Indianapolis | Indianapolis |
San Diego at Kansas City | Kansas City | Kansas City | Kansas City | San Diego |
NY Jets at Miami | NY Jets | Miami | Miami | Miami |
New Orleans at Tampa Bay | New Orleans | New Orleans | New Orleans | New Orleans |
Philadelphia at NY Giants | NY Giants | NY Giants | Philadelphia | NY Giants |
Oakland at Denver | Denver | Denver | Denver | Denver |
Arizona at San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco |
St. Louis at Seattle | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle |
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh | Cincinnati | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh |
Game of the Week: Detroit at Green Bay – The NFL will flex the Bengals/Steelers game to Sunday night and, I guess, with good reason. But I think the most interesting game on the slate is Sunday afternoon’s tilt at Lambeau Field. The Lions have not won in Green Bay since 1991, but did win the earlier game this season in Detroit. The teams are tied at 11-4, so there could be a first-round playoff bye at stake. Of the games that have postseason ramifications, this is likely the biggest.
Game of the Weak: New Orleans at Tampa Bay – Since the NFL went to scheduling mostly divisional games the last couple weeks of the season there have not been a lot of meaningless, boring contests in week 17. This is no exception – I could find a reason to tune in to most of these games. I’ll pick the Saints/Bucs game because there is nothing on the line and both of these teams went into the season with at least somewhat of a whisper of postseason buzz. New Orleans has been the bigger disappointment, but both have had huge letdown seasons for their fans and cities.
Happy Christmas. As is traditional, one member of our family is too sick to participate. This year’s honour goes to my daughter.
My picks are New England, Baltimore, Atlanta, Minnesota, Dallas, Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, San Diego, Miami, New Orleans, NY Giants, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh.